topobathy SupportingStatement_101510 Part Arev

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Topographic and Bathymetric Data Inventory Survey
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-xxxx
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
This request is for a new information collection.
One of the fundamentals of the NOAA Coastal Services Center (Center) is the commitment to
serve the technology and informational needs of our customers, the coastal resource management
community. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other large hurricanes, the coastal
management community had difficulty locating the best available elevation* data for a given
area for use in recovery mapping, high water mark recording, and damage evaluation. In
addition, not knowing where elevation data exists increases duplication of data collection –
where two entities collect the same dataset.
Collecting information about publicly available elevation data and indexing it in an online map
will be a valuable asset to not only the emergency response community but also to the broader
coastal resource management community. Not only will this resource connect users of elevation
data with information about the data and how to access it, it can also be used to give a regional or
state view of elevation resources and help groups work toward strategically filling data gaps.
In continuing compliance with Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, this
data survey will be used by the Center to obtain information from its customers – state and
territorial coastal and marine resource managers – regarding local and regional elevation data
availability. No other NOAA office, state, or local partner is seeking to collect this information.
2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be
used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support
information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection
complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.
Purpose, Delivery and Frequency
The purpose of the survey is to gather 21 specific data attributes about each elevation dataset
available to inform decisions of the coastal management community. This information is critical
for decisions such as siting critical facilities, preparing for flooding events, and managing for
erosion. Elevation data can be difficult to locate and is often expensive to collect, therefore this
resource will be used extensively to find elevation resources and decrease duplication of
collections.
Delivery
Initial contact with the respondents (regional and state coastal resource management and county
government contacts) is via telephone. Conversation entails making sure the interviewer is
talking to the correct contact person, asking if the respondent is willing to supply the
information, and letting the respondent know the data survey will be sent via email to them. The
data survey consists of 21 pieces of information about the data collection. The survey will be
conducted by staff at the Center.
*Topographic elevation, or land elevation, as well as bathymetric elevation, or distance to the sea floor.

Frequency
The survey will be conducted regionally, and it is expected that over a three year time period, all
NOAA-defined coastal regions (Gulf of Mexico, Southeast, Northeast, Great Lakes, West Coast,
Caribbean, and Pacific Islands) will be surveyed once.
Dissemination
It is anticipated that the information collected will be disseminated to the public. As explained in
the preceding paragraphs, the information gathered has public utility. NOAA Coastal Services
Center will serve as the data steward and safeguard the information from improper access,
modification, and destruction, consistent with NOAA security standards for confidentiality,
privacy, and electronic information. See response to Question 10 for more information on
confidentiality and privacy. The information collection is designed to yield data that meet all
applicable information quality guidelines. Prior to dissemination, the information will be
subjected to quality control measures and a pre-dissemination review pursuant to Section 515 of
Public Law 106-554.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of
information technology.
This collection of information does use one electronic document, which is a Microsoft Word
document that lists the attributes about each data set that we would like to include in the
inventory. The form is not available for printing off the internet, but is e-mailed to each
respondent directly. This form is used so that the respondents can respond (via e-mail) with the
information when they find time to do so.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
An inventory involving contacting individual coastal counties as well as working with regional
data groups has not been done. Some entities have repositories for information, but these groups
serve a different function than pointing users to all available data. These groups only serve a
subset of data, usually their own data or data for their state or region. Some states and regions
have partially conducted similar efforts, but none of these efforts are regionally comprehensive,
to the depth of information, and publicly available. This information will be used at the
beginning of an inventory effort to establish a base of what information is known. Steps will
then be taken to fill in the remaining information about the data collection.
5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities,
describe the methods used to minimize the burden.
Coastal county governments will be contacted directly after working with regional and state
groups to gather as much information about elevation data as possible. Often counties have data
that are not known about at the state or regional level, so it is necessary to contact the county
government to ensure the information about elevation data is correct. By using the information
we are able to gather at the state or regional level, this takes the burden of some of the responses
off of the county level entities.
6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is
not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
If the collection is not administered, there will be duplication of datasets, difficulty in
collaborating with other data collection entities, and confusion on access, availability, and

specific attributes of data resources. If the inventory is conducted less frequently, the
information will be more out of date than optimal. Because the inventory is a “snapshot” of data
availability, it can become outdated as new data collections are completed in a region.
Establishing the frequency at once every three years is optimal for the current level of resources
dedicated to this activity and for keeping regions up to date.
7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
The collection will be conducted consistently with OMB guidelines.
8. Provide information on the PRA Federal Register Notice that solicited public comments
on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments
received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response
to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to
obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of
instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data
elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.
A Federal Register notice published on July 22, 2010 (75 FR 42680) solicited public comment.
No comments were received.
9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than
remuneration of contractors or grantees.
No plans exist for payment of gifts to survey respondents.
10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for
assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
No personally identifiable information will be included for the point of contact for each dataset.
The position of the person identified will be included, and information such as phone number
and website may be included in the POC information.
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
This instrument contains no questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
The estimated burden for the survey is 177 hours, annualized to 59 hours. This reflects 850
respondents and responses (annualized to 283), half of whom will need only to participate in the
5 minute phone conversation to answer initial questions and confirm that their information in the
database is correct and up to date, and half of whom will participate in the phone conversation
and fill out the data survey, for a total of 20 minutes each.
Respondents/responses: 850/3 = 283.
Hours: 425 x 5/60 = 35; 425 x 20/60 = 142; 35 + 142 = 177.
177/3 = 59.
Respondents are likely to be county GIS officials, state geospatial employees, and regional data
collectors and distributors.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or recordkeepers
resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in Question 12
above).
Responding to the survey requires no cost or record keeping.
14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
This information collection is supported by in-house staff time. The estimated annualized cost
for this information collection is (equal to 0.6 FTE/FY of member level staff time, 0.05 FTE fed
supervisor). Estimates presented below represent the costs per annum for the term of the
approval.
Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
Data management and database development
Contract project staff
Project supervisor
TOTAL

Labor
30 hrs @ $65 /hr
600 hrs @ $45/hr
20 hrs @ $46.73/hr

$Cost
$1,950
$27,000
$935
$29,885

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments
This is a new information collection.
16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and
publication.
Results will be hosted in an online geospatial viewer accessible via the internet.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the
information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
NA.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.
NA.